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Monday, September 27, 2010

Kinpira Gobo - Japanese Burdock

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...I stumbled on burdock quite by accident. While looking for celeriac in the produce section of my market, I found a stash of dirt encrusted roots that were about 18 inches long. I was intrigued enough to do some research, and learned that what had aroused my curiosity was actually the edible taproot of a plant belonging to the thistle family. While I had never seen it before, the root, called burdock, is popular throughout Asia, where it is still eaten and also used for medicinal purposes. Armed with that basic information, I went ahead and did an extensive search for ways in which to cook it. Strangely, there were few to be found and I found myself dealing with multiple occurrences of the same recipe. I really wanted to try this, but I wanted to get it right first time at bat. The roots were $9 a pound and that didn't leave much room for experimentation. A larger concern was how few of the roots the store actually had in stock. I went back and bought a pound which effectively delpleated their supply. Once home, I decided to use the recipe supplied by a group of expats living in Japan. They have a wonderful site called Tokyo Work Life where, among other things, they maintain a collection of Japanese recipes which you can find here. Their recipe differed from the others in that they used a hot dried chili, rather than miso, to flavor the dish that is called kinpira gobo. Their version of gobo is also cooked in dark sesame oil, rather than being sprinkled with sesame seeds before serving. The first task was to clean and peel the roots. A good scrub with a vegetable brush took care of the encrusted dirt and I used the dull edge of a knife to peel the burdock. A peeler would have removed too much of the flesh. I did cheat a bit with the next step. The recipe called for cutting the roots into a very thin julienne. I used a julienne peeler to do this, so I ended up with lovely, but long, strips of burdock that would be difficult to eat with chopsticks. In a perfect world, the strips would have been cut to a uniform julienne about 2 inches long and 1/16 of an inch wide. I quickly learned that the strips need to go into cold water once they're cut to prevent them from turning black. Soaking in water helps to remove the minerals that cause oxidation to occur. I let mine sit for about 30 minutes in several changes of water. Burdock has a deep earthy flavor, like that of wild mushrooms, but it has a very fibrous texture that can be stringy if you don't cook it correctly or long enough. "Kinpira" describes a dish that is both sauteed and braised. The dual process produces a vegetable that is slightly fibrous and crunchy rather than tough. In Japan this is served as an accompaniment to a main course and rice. It is surprisingly pleasant. If you like to experiment and are in the market for something different, be fearless and give this a try. Here's the recipe.

Never HEARD of it. When I first saw the picture, it looked like bean sprouts and shredded carrots. You are very brave buying that when you didn't know how it would taste or how you would cook it, especially being rather expensive. What kind of grocery store did you find these in anyway?? I've never seen them, even in Whole Foods or the Foods Of All Nations. I can't imagine where you must shop!

I would have probably moved that burdock aside and left it. I'm glad that you didn't. We like all of the flavors involved (well, except the burdock which we'd probably like as well) and it's an interesting recipe. While I probably won't make it, I will certainly seek out burdock when I'm shopping.

How very interesting! I’m sure I’ve walked by this root many times. You a have inspired me to try something new. I was at a friend’s place for dinner this weekend who told me how she gets a box of organic produce delivered to her house every week. It’s always something different, as it just depends what is in season. She said it forces her to try new dishes she otherwise wouldn’t if she went and pickled up her usual.

it's just amazing what just about every grocery store carries these days. too many choices, not enough days in the week ... can't possibly be making money off of it. guess that's why they have to carry 107 varieties of Kellogg cereals.

It's wonderful that you are trying out something new, this is an interesting dish. We usually use this for our soups mixed along with some other herbs, as we believe it contains some medicinal benefit like removes uric acid, treating diabetes and some other ailments! But I have never tried it the Japanese way before! Thanks for sharing.

I am amazed that you went through all this trouble! I thought cleaning taro was bad enough, this is ten times worse!I am now curious to see if it is available here; I like how the recipe shows restraint and sounds delicious and earthy.

You sound like me, if I see something in the store that I am not familiar with. I find many roots here like boniato, and name, malaga. I don't know if I could do the $10 a pound though. Good for you, this sounds interesting!

I don't think I've ever seen burdock in any markets around here, but I'll certainly look for it now.What a thorough investigating job you did, Mary! It's why I love your blog. Even if I never make this recipe, I'll know what it is and can speak somewhat intelligently on the subject. Interesting burdock has an earthy mushroom flavor; I'd love that.Thanks for all your hard work!

Must confess here that I've not seen this root, or if I have not been as courious as you. I think you have a great quality there and I would love to be your neighbor, can't imagine how much I would learn from you. Next trip to the market I'm keeping my eyes open. Have a lovely week.

I love finding new veggies and while I've heard of this before, I certainly wouldn't recognize it if I found it in a supermarket! This dish sounds delicious! Thanks so much for submitting it to Regional Recipes!

Mary,You never fail to amaze me. I would have been far too intimidated to try something like this...and yet you not only accomplished a great recipe, but gave me the courage to experiment a bit more too! Thank you so much for sharing with me. Burdock here I come!

I have seen these but don't know if they are the same species...I believe the chinese use these roots to boil soup with pork bones or free range chicken, although I have never tried it myself. Yours definitely looks delicious!

I utterly adore finding new and interesting vegetables and you've definitely stumped/intrigued me here. Burdock...what a name. Sounds like a detective and I like it. If 'Burdock' marries well with the flavors you added here then I'm IN. I made plain old green beans with lovely sesame oil, rice vinegar and toasted sesame seeds tonight and was reminded how much I enjoy Asian flavors. Thanks for sharing Mary! You always teach us something new.

I discovered gobo last week at a local Japanese market and I had to use it. I just love discovering new ingredients. I found this kinpira recipe and others and I picked this recipe as the one to showcase Japan as we are cooking around the world with 2 friends right now: http://www.196flavors.com/2013/02/19/japan-gobo-kinpira/

I paired it with mackerel, white rice with furikake and... sake of course!

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